If you’ve been thinking about getting into catalogues, but are afraid of the cost, look into the multi-merchant catalogue Canada Post will be testing this fall. The Look Book will be about 24 pages and feature 10-15 merchants, such as Ottawa-based kitchen accessories retailer Ashton Green.

David Coulson, acting director, retail and catalogue marketing at Canada Post, says that the concept is similar to the American in-flight catalogue SkyMall. He adds that the biggest draw for merchants is Canada Post’s use of its own proprietary prospecting tool SnapShot, which will allow the catalogues to be highly targeted.

‘We’ve invested quite heavily in SnapShot. It predicts a propensity to purchase,’ explains Coulson. It was developed for Canada Post by Generation 5 using 13,000 different variables, and it’s capable of producing detailed profiles based on purchase behaviour. About four years ago, Canada Post decided to develop DM tools like SnapShot to help grow its own business.

The test catalogue hits 500,000 homes and 200,000 e-mail inboxes. It has varied pricing for a double-page-spread: a flat fee of $59,000; a risk-share fee-per-buyer of $56 per buyer (if you don’t get a response, you don’t pay); and a mixed model with a $29,000 flat fee plus $28 per buyer. If the test is successful, Canada Post will likely do four or more 100+ page issues per year.